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Tuesday, June 7, 2016

The Death of the Auteur in a Cinematic Universe?

Marvel now (in)famously has a
reputation of making sure their films do not have a particular directorial
style attached to them ever since Edgar Wright, the director of Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, departed Ant-Man and was replaced with Peyton
Reed, the director of Bring It On.
Further, uber-nerd Joss Wheedon has left the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has
been replaced with The Russo Brothers, who’s prior claim to fame was directing
episodes of Community and Arrested Development. I am enjoying
these later installments of the Avengers franchise, and I thoroughly enjoyed
its latest- Captain America: Civil War-
but it’s obvious these films lack a distinctive visual style. Despite having
directors like Wheedon and Jon Favreau and Shane Black, the films within the
Marvel Cinematic Universe feel like they were made by one person. And that’s
precisely how Marvel producer Kevin Feige likes it.

This label is odd for Disney as
its list of tapped directors for his Star Wars cinematic universe projects
included a list of directors that had proven they could make good movies- and
that had visual styles. After Disney bought LucasFilms, they tapped J.J.
Abrams, Gareth Edwards, Rian Johnson, Josh Trank (R.I.P.), and Phil Lord and
Chris Miller for their next films. You would certainly put that group
light years ahead of Alan Taylor, Peyton Reed, and Joe Johnston- all three of
which has directed films in the MCU (can you guess which one?). Disney and
LucasFilms seemed to be going in a more advanced route, take what Marvel was
doing with its cinematic universe and make it better thanks to the skills of
some amazing filmmakers and storytellers. What’s even better, is that the stand
alone Star Wars films like Rogue One
and Han Solo’s origin story could be anything the studios and filmmakers wanted
it to be. I was excited to get a Heist Movie that just so happened to be set in
the Star Wars universe. Hell, that’s basically what Ant-Man was for the MCU.

However, if the reports are true
that Gareth Edwards, a man with a unique and interesting visual style, needs to
alter his film to make it more Star Wars-y,
then my excitement level for these Star Wars films will lower to my excitement
to that for these Marvel movies- “eh”.

While I understand that studios
sole goal is to make money, and they look over at Marvel who seems to be making
all of it being bland and inoffensive, then it makes sense why other studios
want to copy that model. However, doing so ignores the obvious- that big tent
summer blockbusters and films set within a universe can still make money when
helmed by an auteur. The Dark Knight was one of the highest
grossing films of all time where it came out, and that film has Christopher
Nolan’s fingerprints all over it. Guardians
of The Galaxy was one of the highest grossing films of 2014 and that film
is most certainly a James Gunn film (whether or not you knew who James Gunn was
before 2014). Famously, James Gunn showed a first draft of the Guardians script to Joss Wheedon and
Wheedon replied, “I just really want there to be more ‘James Gunn’ in [the]script.” Even the film that started it all, Iron
Man, shows Jon Favreau’s pension for storytelling and big budget action.

Ultimately, we shall see what
these studios will do in the future. It’s possible Rogue One will look like a Gareth Edwards film while also appeasing
whatever problems Disney may or may not have with the current cut of the film.
LucasFilms tapped Rian Johnson, a man who directed the greatest episodes of Breaking Bad while also clearly
comfortable directing with someone else’s style, to direct Episodes 8 and 9 of Star Wars. Phil Lord and Chris Miller
also come from television and also have a knack for elevating the quality of
whatever material they touch. I even have hope for Marvel who has (for now)
Ryan Coogler directing the Black Panther
film. Coogler is a man who is not only proven himself to be a great director,
but also managed to make a film with within a franchise (Rocky) while still making his own movie.

I can understand studios’ aversion
to pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a franchise only to have it
ruined by an auteur. 20th Century Fox would like nothing more than
to have its most recent Fantastic Four
back from Josh Trank. Warner Brothers is also distancing itself from Zach
Snyder’s latest attempt to build the DC Cinematic Universe (despite the fact
that Batman v. Superman still made a
butt load of money). However, there is a happy medium. For starters, do what
LucasFilms and Disney are doing and tap the right auteurs. Abrams, Edwards,
Johnson, and Lord and Miller have all proven that they can direct tent pole
movies, work within the Hollywood system, and still produce quality movies. If
studios are still squeamish, make sure they look at filmmakers like Ryan
Coogler and Rian Johnson, guys who have films under the belt and were still
able to do so with a modest sized budget. One of the problems with Josh Trank
and Fantastic Four was that he proved
he wasn’t able to direct a film that wasn’t an indie. None of LucasFilm’s and Disney’s
other directors have shown that same problem.
It's important to have auteurs in these cinematic universes as these types of films are basically the only films Hollywood is making. If all we are going to get is big budget action and comic book movies (which I am not inherently against), then we need to start having interesting and creative filmmakers behind the camera to keep the medium itself alive. Further, auteurs help change cinema for the better. Ultimately, all the audience wants are good films to see, and auteurs help with that. But the more we start moving away auteurs and start moving towards cookie-cutter directors-for-hire, then the worse the medium of cinema gets and the more the audience suffers.

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